quien

[F. chien, dial. quien, see hound.] A dog. [Thieves' cant.] "Curse the quiens ," said he. And not a word all dinnertime but "Curse the quiens ! " I said I must know who they were before I would curse them. " Quiens ? why, that was dogs. And I knew not even that much?" C. Reade, Cloister and Hearth, 1v. Fletcher , Spanish Curate, i. 3. quien sabe (kien säʼbe). [Sp.: quien , who, By some strange quiddit , or some wrested clause, To find him guiltie of the breach of laws. the genus or species. Drayton, The Owl.